We are incredibly fortunate at Karaka School to have the expertise of a specialist teacher who will, through the weaving together of te ao Māori and the performing arts – dance, drama and music – provide our students with opportunities to understand that te reo and tikanaga Māori are a taonga (treasure) recognised under the Treaty of Waitangi, a primary source of our nation’s self-knowledge and identity and an official language. By understanding and using te reo Māori, our learners will become more aware of the significance of the indigenous language and culture in defining and asserting our point of difference in the wider world.

At Karaka School we believe that by learning te reo maori and becoming increasingly familiar with tikanga, Māori students strengthen their identities, while non-Māori journey towards shared cultural understandings.

We practice counting in Te Reo Maori in lots of different ways – like bouncing, rolling and throwing a ball.